The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain
Chapter Two: The Fence
Level: Beginner - pre-intermediate
Age: Teenagers / adults
Time needed: Approximately 10 minutes per
activity
Activity 1
1 Play the last part of Chapter 1 again from, Tom
must behave better…, until the end of the chapter
where Aunt Polly says Tomorrow, Tom will paint the
fence.
Ask students to predict/guess what will happen
in Chapter 2. (They can do this by writing down their
ideas and comparing them in pairs or small groups.)
2
3 Play the first part of Chapter 2 from, It was a
Sunday morning, to, Tom had a big bucket of paint and
a brush with a long handle. He looked at the fence.
4 Ask students to compare their predictions/guesses
with what they heard.
‘Ben gave me his apple,’ said Tom. ‘Then he painted
the fence.’ (What do you think Billy did?)
‘Aunt Polly was very surprised.’ (What do you think
Aunt Polly said?)
Note: This is an example of dual top-down,
bottom-up processing.
Extension: Role-play
Repeat the role-play activity from Chapter 1. This time
the roles are Ben and Tom.
5 Play the same piece again and ask students to
predict what Tom might be thinking.
6 Again have them write down their ideas and/or
compare their ideas with a partner.
Play the next piece of the recording until, Tom
started to paint. Ask the students to predict what might
happen next.
7
Repeat this process, stopping and asking students
to predict or guess at the following points:
8
Ben said ‘You have to work!’ (What do you think
Tom said?)
‘… asked Ben. He was surprised.’ (What do you think
Tom said?)
‘It’s very difficult to paint a fence.’ (How do you think
Ben felt?)
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Podcasts / The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Chapter Two
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‘Tom thought for a minute.’ (What do you think Tom
said? What do you think Ben did?)
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LISTENING SKILLS teacher’s notes
Author: Adrian Tennant
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain
Chapter Two: The Fence
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Podcasts / The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Chapter Two
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© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007
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It was Saturday morning. There was no school today. But
Tom had to work. He had to paint the fence. It was a long
fence around the garden of Aunt Polly’s house.
Tom had a big bucket of paint and a brush with a long
handle. He looked at the fence.
‘I want to go swimming. I want to go fishing. I want to play
with my friends,’ said Tom to himself. ‘I don’t want to paint the
fence. My friends will all see me. They’ll laugh at me.’
Tom started to paint.
After an hour, Tom was tired. He looked sadly at the big bucket
of paint and the brush with the long handle. Then Tom had an idea.
He smiled.
He started to paint the fence again.
Soon he saw one of his friends, Ben Rogers. Ben was walking
towards him. He was making strange noises. Ben was a steamboat
on the Mississippi River!
‘Ting-a-ling!’ he said. He was making the noise of the bell on the
steamboat. ‘Sssh! Sssh!’ he said. He was making the noise of the
steam in the engine of the steamboat.
Ben was holding a big red apple.
‘I’m going swimming,’ Ben said. ‘You have to work!’
‘I’m not working,’ said Tom. ‘This isn’t work!’
‘Do you like painting the fence?’ asked Ben. He was surprised.
‘Yes,’ said Tom.
Tom started to paint again. Sometimes he stopped and looked at
the fence. Then he painted again. There was a happy smile on
his face.
‘Ben watched him. ‘Let me paint the fence,’ he said.
‘No,’ said Tom. ‘It’s very difficult to paint a fence.’
Ben was not happy. Tom liked painting the fence. So Ben wanted
to paint the fence.
‘Please let me paint it,’ he said. ‘I’ll give you some of my apple.’
Tom thought for a minute. ‘No,’ he replied. And he smiled and
started to paint again.
‘I’ll give you all of my apple,’ said Ben.
Tom thought for another minute. ‘All right,’ he said.
So Tom sat down and started to eat Ben’s apple. And Ben started
to paint the fence.
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LISTENING SKILLS teacher’s notes
Transcript
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain
Chapter Two: The Fence
After an hour, Ben was tired. He gave the bucket of paint
and the brush to Tom. Then he went away. He made the
noises of a steamboat again. ‘Ting-a-ling! Sssh! Sssh!’
Then Tom saw another friend, Billy Fisher. Billy was
holding a kite.
‘Ben was painting your fence,’ said Billy. ‘Let me paint
your fence.’
‘No,’ replied Tom. ‘Lots of boys want to paint my fence. But it’s
very difficult to paint a fence.’
‘Oh,’ said Billy.
‘Ben gave me his apple,’ said Tom. ‘Then he painted the fence.’
‘I’ll give you my kite,’ said Billy.
Tom thought for a minute. ‘All right,’ he said.
So Tom sat down. He was holding Billy’s kite. And Billy started to
paint the fence.
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© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007
Podcasts / The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Chapter Two
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The morning passed. The fence was painted twice. Tom had a kite,
a cat and a long piece of rope. He had a cake, twelve round stones
and a metal door-handle. He was happy. He went to speak to Aunt
Polly.
‘The fence is painted,’ he said. ‘And there is no more paint.’
Aunt Polly was very surprised. ‘You are a good boy, Tom,’
she said.
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LISTENING SKILLS teacher’s notes
Transcript